Hypocrisy Sucks. Consistency Rocks. All day long and twice on Sunday

As I stated in a Storey County Commissioners public comment recently, hypocrisy is something that renders a person’s integrity void.

When I get near it, I feel as if I’ve eaten ground glass. Here are some examples:

Progressive Liberals who claim they are for peace but look the other way and gave Obama a pass when his drone strikes were responsible for the murder of thousands and thousands of innocent civilians in the Middle East.

Principled Conservatives proclaiming all life is precious and lusting after the switch to execute the man or woman on death row.

Rush Limbaugh railing hammer and tong for the drug war and getting strung out on Oxycontin.

On May 30th, the men who represent us in Carson City came to Storey County to address a nice sized crowd at the Delta Saloon. Before and during the meeting, the bar did a brisk business as the crowd enjoyed cold beer, wine and mixed drinks.

Assemblyman Jim Wheeler and Senator James Settlemeyer brought news of their efforts to carry the conservative fight to the new blue color of the Nevada legislature.

Wheeler began his talk by owning the fact that the Republicans got their fannies kicked in 2014 by failing to stick to their guns and voting for a sickening amount of new taxes. He went on to suggest that if the Republicans wanted to regain relevance, they needed to embrace more of the population and be more inclusive. He said that the Republican Party should have open arms to conservatives whose lifestyle and ideas may not have meshed with the hardcore factions in the party. Twenty minutes later, he was asked a question by this young man:

Representative Wheeler dresses down the person in the room with the most guts.

The courageous young man’s question was related to the Military and LBGT rights (sadly the audio I recorded was simply too poor quality to clearly capture the meeting, I had hoped to deliver the spoken words here for impact). Mr. Wheeler is seen here delivering his sarcastic response which included, “Don’t forget the Q! Let’s get it right. It’s LBGTQ!”.

I was struck by both the young man’s courage and Mr. Wheeler’s clear hypocrisy following his earlier message of inclusion.

Later Mr. Settlemeyer took the stage. He gave a rundown of the bills he fought for and against as the “Liberal Agenda from Washoe and Clark Counties” fought against the Charter School Authority vouchers and the Devil’s Weed. Mr. Settlemeyer described each and every one of the Cannabis related bills with distaste. “The wanted to fund our kid’s education with drug money!” He delivered the same tired mantra of prohibition that has proven itself bankrupt since the day after the Volstead Act became a thing in 1919.

Senator Settlemeyer shares the dangers of Mary Jane with Storey County as Representative Wheeler looks on with glee.

The questions from the die hard anti-weed relics in the audience reflected an indignant anger with the notion that recreational cannabis had become legalized by a vote of the people of Storey County and the rest of Nevada in November of 2016. The animated questions and satisfaction with the antiquated ideology dished out by Senator Settlemeyer and lapped up by the hardcore drug warriors in the audience was remarkable.

I couldn’t help but enjoy the irony on display from the Hippy Lettuce Haters as they quenched their thirst for the Blood of Dope Smokers with their high-balls and ice cold brewskis.

The zeal that Mr. Settlemeyer delivered his anti-pot message was robust and steely-eyed. His throwback ideas would make Darryl Gates smile. He is a true holdout from an unhappy past that we need to put in the rear view mirror as fast as possible.

I am on record as saying that Drunk Driving is the single greatest danger to the public at large that any other menace we face as we get out of bed to face the day. Not Terrorism. Not Gun Violence. Drunks. Driving. Sheriff Gerald Antinoro and I discussed the matter on The Teller’s podcasts several times.

After losing 7 friends to drunk drivers, I am of the opinion that Drunks caught Driving should face a mandatory-no-trial-no-pleading minimum one year sentence starting the second they are dragged from their vehicle. Second Offense Ten Years. Third Offense Life in Prison without parole. Not lined up and shot like Gates suggested, but doing heavy time. Again, my own opinion.

Jail. Period. End. Of. Story.

So where am I going with this?

From the June 27th Record-Courier I present this little nugget:

Douglas County legislator’s wife admits third DUI

The wife of a Douglas County legislator admitted Monday in District Court that she drove while under the influence of alcohol.

Sherese Settelmeyer, 52, of Gardnerville, will attend DUI diversion court for her third DUI within a seven-year period. Three DUI convictions within seven years is a felony in Nevada. She had previous convictions in 2010 and 2013 in the East Fork Justice Court.

Settelmeyer was arrested at around 1:45 a.m. Jan. 5 on Kimmerling Road with a blood alcohol concentration of .11 at the time.

Sentencing for Settelmeyer, who is the wife of Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Minden, can be delayed for up to five years while she completes a treatment program. If she successfully completes treatment, she will return to court and the charge will be treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony. If she fails the diversion program, Settelmeyer faces 1-6 years in prison and a fine of $2,000-$5,000.

The shameful details of her criminal behavior can be gleaned from a May 11th Record-Courier article:

Deputies reported she had a hard time rolling down her window and that she handed over a tie-dyed bank card instead of her driver’s license. She also allegedly said she didn’t know why she was in the Gardnerville Ranchos area.

Her breath alcohol concentration was .136, according to court documents.

Defense attorney Ron Cauley said Wednesday in East Fork Justice Court that the state has said it won’t oppose diversion if she qualifies. Settelmeyer was also arrested in 2013, 2010 and 1995 on DUI charges. A third DUI conviction within seven years is a felony in Nevada.

A Half Gallon Milk Carton? Dude. Seriously.

As a member of the ruling class, she gets a slap on the wrist for putting the public at risk unknown times and getting cuffed 4 times for DUI. In-freaking-credible…

If she were you or I, we would rightfully be enjoying 3 hots and a cot on the taxpayers dime for a couple years. In my world she gets monthly visits from Senator Settlemeyer for the rest of her natural born life. But that’s me.

Please. Don’t drink, smoke weed or text and drive. Just Don’t.

My kids are on the same road as your kids and we both want then to return home alive.

If need a ride home, call the Storey County Sheriff’s Office at 775-847-0950. Sheriff Antinoro’s brand of community based policing includes getting you home alive.

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5 comments

I’m not positive, but I think you may have gotten the exchange between Assemblyman Wheeler and the young man misinterpreted. The fellow seemed to be getting texted questions from his father, that he addressed to Wheeler. I believe that there was legislation giving certain gun rights to gay military people, and the question was why Wheeler supported that bill? Wheeler ran through the “LGBTQ” list noting that (now this is only MY recollection) anyone who served in the military got his full support, esp. when it came to guns & that their sexual persuasion was of no interest to him & had no bearing on his decision. I don’t think that Wheeler came off as anti-gay. I felt he came off as having no bias for or against ANY sexual persuasion & that he voted on bills based on the Constitution.

I agree that the Settelmeyer situation is horrible. Just to play Devil’s Advocate, maybe he’s so worried about the stoned driving situation because of his own experience with this wife? But, his own experience should have no bearing on driving on pot. He also could be against it because he doesn’t want to see an education account depending on pot taxes? I don’t know. In my opinion, there’s a VAST difference between driving while stoned & driving while drunk & in most cases, stoned people are already home & have no impulse to drive any where. The law does say that pot can only be used in private homes & not in public (like that’s really going to be a reality). I was amazed that the law is so lenient with multiple DUI offenders! What do you have to do? Kill someone for any serious consequence to result for your behavior? I tried to find out WHO pays for this drug treatment program & all the enforcement that goes with it? It it’s the taxpayer, that’s SO WRONG.

Cynthia, I couldn’t hear the question, but I sure felt the snideness from Wheeler when he “Don’t forget the Q” retort from Wheeler. Nothing in his response suggested to me that he would welcome anyone in that acronym set to his house for dinner. But that was just me. I could very well been overly sensitive to the matter.

I stand by my slamming the hypocrisy with Settlemeyer and the folks who want dope smokers caged or shot while they do the most widely abused drug in America. I won’t rest until their brand of wrongheadedness is a thing of the past. In fairness to Settlemeyer, he isn’t the person with the four DUI’s but he (or his position at a Senator) is the reason she isn’t in jail today.

Sam, I gotta stand up for Wheeler again here. Jim wasn’t being snide about gay people at all. What you were hearing was his attempt to recall all the letters in the label that’s now the PC name de jour for gay people & individuals associated around the edge of gayness: Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, Queers. I completely understand why Wheeler might have a bit of frustration in remembering all the letters in their correct sequence. To me, it’s RIDICULOUS. Also, in all my life, I’ve never used the term “Queer,” and always had a negative reaction to those who used it. Why gays would want to be called “Queer” is beyond me. If that’s the case, why didn’t they include “H” for Homo, or have “L” stand for “Limp Wristed” or gays in a “Lavender Marriage, too?” That list of PC letters could probably include the ENTIRE alphabet. So Sam, you did hear wrong. Jim is not prejudiced & he was actually putting that boy’s father’s question in its place. As far as Settelmeyer, I’m in your corner as I’ve been for marijuana legalization since I smoked my first joint at 15. It was a far more safe, sane & enjoyable experience than my first forays into alcohol. In the case of marijuana, I feel if you are going to pass laws about it, you should try it several times so that you can know that the “evils of weed” are largely fiction. Marijuana and hemp legalization is a great boon to this country in tax revenues, unclogging the courts & prisons from possession arrests, commercial uses for paper & other products, and most importantly, medical treatment.

Perhaps I am a bit hard on Wheeler and read sarcasm into his words when it wasn’t really there. After all, you were closer to the action and could more clearly understand what was being said. I didn’t hear the question and only keyed into what he was saying. As we discuss it, I know I have my own bias on him so it could be that my vision was colored by the glasses I am new to Wheeler and only know of him through his infamous “If my constituents want slavery, I’ll vote for slavery” misstep.

On that notion about doing his constituents bidding, you and I are on the same page; we want cannabis prohibition to be in the rear view mirror. Time for republicans to widen the tent and get in step with the 2017’s.

Whew, well Patrick & I were the ones who video’d that SCRCC meeting where Wheeler spoke about slavery & put the video on youtube. NO ONE there at that meeting took offense to that statement. We knew the context in which he meant it. He was speaking about a bill that had divided opinions & he took the route of voting the way the majority of his constituents wanted. The video sat on youtube for months without a blip. Then, somehow it was put out there as Wheeler being some kind of pro-slavery nut & all hell broke loose. I felt so sorry for him. WE put that video up & NEVER thought his thoughts would be taken out of context like they were. I’ll never forget hearing Colbert saying that Wheeler should be, “Kicked in the balls.” That was when I HATED Colbert as he just jumped on the bankwagon on people trashing Wheeler who didn’t even know the guy & his record of service. We pulled the youtube, but the damage was done. I believe this marijuana thing comes down to whether you’ve: 1. Had experience with it. 2. Never had experience with it. 3. Don’t want to have any experience with it. The people I meet who are against it, seem to be people who never used it because they thought they were going to have some horrible experience, and endure a life of flashbacks and genetic deformity. They also don’t want any more people on the roads driving while incapacitated. My argument though is that people driving on a substance were going to drive that way whether it was liquor, pot, heroin, etc. Something being illegal hasn’t stopped millions of people, and I do feel people who drive stoned are more careful & as I said before, don’t want to go out & drive & just want to stay home, watch a movie & eat pizza. JMHO